with Keith Holder

Date Published: 2013-12-28

Summary: Averages

'Oldsters' Collymore, Browne, Dwayne Smith among top performers in Sagicor General Super Cup

Bridgetown, Barbados, December 28 – (www.bcacricket.org) – Say what you like or how you feel about them, veterans made their presence felt with outstanding performances in the 2013 BCA Sagicor General Super Cup championship.

For example, former Barbados captain and West Indies fast bowler Corey Collymore, who celebrated his 36th birthday on December 21, boasted of the best economy rate and also had the fourth best average.

In six matches in the 17-team 50-over-a-side tournament which was badly hit by rain in the first five rounds and resulted in 25 of 39 matches ending in no-decisions, Collymore took ten wickets at 9.70 runs each and conceded just 2.51 runs per over for CGI Maple, who were beaten in the final for the second straight season.

Collymore made an impact from his first match in Series 5 when he took three for nine off six overs against Premix & Precast Yorkshire at Trents and never looked back.

Another 'old man', Courtney Browne, also a former Barbados captain and West Indies wicket-keeper/batsman, was the fielder with the most catches (seven) for new champions LIME. All of his catches were held in the slips.

Browne, a current West Indies selector, who turned 43 on December 7, kept wicket in only two matches as he gave way to the much younger Cyprian Payne. And in one of those matches against ESA Field Pickwick at Wildey, he took one catch and had one stumping after topscoring with 55 in a 13-run victory.

In addition to his fielding, Browne was more than handy with the bat. His aggregate of 191 (ave: 27.28) included two half-centuries and was the second highest for LIME.

Dwayne Smith, the Barbados and West Indies Twenty20 batsman, who has also played Tests and One-Day Internationals, amassed the most runs (392) at an average of 49.00 for YMPC after looking set for an aggregate of 500.

Smith is aged 30 but in terms of local domestic cricket, he, too, is a veteran, having started his career 15 years ago for Combined Schools South while a student at Garrison Secondary (now renamed Graydon Sealy).

In his first four innings, Smith raced to 329 runs (ave: 82.25) with knocks of 77, 51, 117 and 84. But he slipped in his last four, scoring 29, 0, 30 and four.

The 117 was against BDFSP at Paragon in what turned out to be the most thrilling match of the tournament as it ended in a tie. YMPC made 246 all out in 47.5 overs and BDFSP responded with 246 for six off 50 overs with Tyrone Theophile, the Dominica and Windward Islands batsman, who is a member of the Sagicor West Indies High Performance Centre, hitting 111 not out.

Brathwaite, who celebrated his 21st birthday on December 1, made 316 (ave: 52.67) for CounterPoint Wanderers, while Welcome-Goodman, a member of the 2012 champion Barbados Under-19 three-day team, got 315 (ave: 45.00) and was the only batsman to hit two centuries.

Maple all-rounder Jamar "Butterbeans" Griffith was the leading wicket-taker with 20 scalps at 12.30 runs apiece in eight matches. His economy rate was 3.95.

Griffith, a burly 27-year-old left-arm spinner, had a best haul of five for 27 against Republic Bank St. Catherine in the quarter-finals at Bayfield. He is one of three reserves named by the Barbados selectors for the 2014 WICB NAGICO Super50 championship in Trinidad & Tobago from January 30 to February 16.

Derick Bishop, the St. Catherine captain and experienced all-rounder, was the second highest wicket-taker (17) and also finished with the second best average (9.17). His economy rate was 2.91. He recorded the best figures of six for 24 against BRC BCL at Bayfield.

And having scored 115 runs (ave: 38.33), Bishop, yet another December-born - his 30th birthday was on December 17 - is the leading contender for the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. To boot, he took five catches.

The Sir Garfield Sobers prize is one of six major awards, which were introduced in 2004 to mark the rebranding of the major one-day competition in the island from the Sagicor General Cup to the Super Cup.

The other top awards are: Seymour Nurse Best Batsman (Most runs), Joel Garner Best Bowler (Most wickets), David Allan Best Wicket-keeper (Most victims), Collis King Best Fielder (Most catches by a fielder, other than wicket-keeper) and Tony King Most Outstanding Under-19 player.

The wicket-keeper with the most victims (12 - all catches) was Collis Worrell of Maple.

Despite rain having wreaking havoc in the early stages, there were still 11 centuries - two more than last year.

There were also 11 instances of bowlers taking five wickets in a match - down by seven from the 2012 championship.

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2013 BCA Sagicor General Super Cup championship - Leading Averages

Bridgetown, Barbados, December 28 – (www.bcacricket.org) – Leading averages in the 2013 BCA Sagicor General Super Cup (50-over-a-side) championship, which was won by LIME with CGI Maple as runners-up: